Arizona weekly citizen., 1887-06-11
RESURREITI TON
The Great Canal Enterprise and in. ,,.,,.-
 fits that will Come of f,

of waterless but extremely fertile I,,d Traditions. supported by still yisibIe runs of ancient canals and -eserv,,rs lead to the irresistible belief that tbS tsttered and stained pages of Tina nnst somewhere contain fragmentary racor8s of a period when deuse population of frugal, industrious and intelligent naoria titled the soil of this broad plain
 The causes of the extinction or bsnisb- ment or these industrious people can only be coniectured. The warhks tr;bes or Indians that have invested the conn try s.nce the discovery of tue western hemisphere have no traditions embrac. Ing The terrible scenes that doubtless accompanied their ev;ctI0n. The savage nomads probably swept down upon them m vast hoIdes while they were engaged n their peaceful gvocations, and drove them Tar away to perish upon the bar Ten deserts to She southward; wRntonlv lsi- waste thelr property, and then passed oD to other scenes of bloodsbed and plunder so familiar that DO special held Of carnage was deemed worthy of handing down as examples of ( hei- deeds of valor.
 Upon these broad and fer.ile mesa lands once teRming with life and activi- ty, history will so far repent itself ina. ID thls respect the now bsr-e desert VII be made to again blossom as the rose. and thousands upon thousands CT beautiful and happy homes will arise above the mysterious runs ia fulfllment O, the divine command, The time has come Tor the inevitable change and the opportunity Is ripe.
 Money, enterprise and intelligence have combined to agaIn turn Q portion ot the abundant waters of the Gila rlysr. by nearly the same c0urse as that ia which they were diverted m the ob- scure ages of the twilight ot Time, and upon the same lands once titled by the ancient pioneers of whom 90 little Is really known, The jealous Hutiqusrian might regard this reiuyenation, or rather resurrection, of the ashes of a dead civilization as piece of wicked wanda llsn, but the bard Cf the future will weave a brilliant wool Of sentiment with the warp ot old and new history into 6 web of song that wIil live on for ever, eItolling the unfolding ard startling beauties of destiny and evolu- ton.
 The work of reclamation was not of acelientsl or recent conception. Pracit- cal men have reasoned that one day in the uncertain future the evident design of provident nature must be accom- plished, and to-day they usn witness al most the full frultion of those early hopes. Indeed, when the bslching blaze of the booming cannon stirrs pat rIOt'c blood into fervOr that is sur passed only by the Fourth of July orator as he scars alOft astrIde the emblematic bird of Liberty, the same event will likewise celebrate the completion oi the grand Florence canal to this place, & distance of eleven miles. The water will then be turned in and from thls point the work of construction will be resumed until by the main canal and its lateral branches Desrly 10000 acres of new land ls brought under the irliga-| ting csp6bllity-enough tO support 10 direct and indirect way, a permanent population of over 300O0 people,
 The Florence canal and water com pany was organized early ID iSS6, and the work was started in April of that year. 4 question then arose Rs 70 the right of way across 8 portion of the Pima Indian reservation. and pending its adjustment all construction work ceased In July last amended articles O. incorporation were filed and upon February lst, of the present year, all obstacles being settled. work WAS re- sumed and has been steadily prosecuted since that tune. The Incorporators are: Mir. D. 5. Thomas, President, T. l. WrsmPel mier. Vice President; J. M. Hurley, Secretary and Treasurer; Chas. H 8li ana John Vail. They are residents Of Carthage, Mo, and Fort Smith, Ark. 
 owne. O. the water works at Carthage and at For: Smith, and be also owns large herd of cattle in Texas. It was v h,ie making g visit to his Texas range that he waE induced to visit Arizona, and after inspecting various opportuni- ;.es for profitable investment. he came so Florence aUd he-e found field for bis genIuE. means and enterprise, The present company Was organized with a capital of S2O00OO and NIT. Thomas came Rt once to Florence to give a per soma! superinterdence to the work of building the canal. He let tbe twO-mile contract to Mir James Brash and Mir. R. H. Martin secured the contract for the balance of the construction work. Mr. Martin sub-let portions of the work tO Messrs. John Dunn, Aaron Mason and others.
 It was the good fortune Of represen- tative of the Enterprise to visit the head of the canal on Tuesday, through the hospitality of chief engineer and construction superintendent A, I. Col ton. The rock work at the head was near completion and II was thought It volld be finished the present V, ek. \ very small amount of excavation was still incomplete, and the work ef con slructang the head gate was started on Tuesday. The company is doing thIs work under the direction of NIT. CoItOn, who proposes making lt thoroughly substantial and effective. About lOO feet of sand excavation IS to be made, to connect the canal with the headgate, when the water will enter the conduit Bt TWO feet below the present low water mark. Should occasion demand it, dam can be cheBply made that will turn A large stream of water into the canal at even the lowest possi ble stage or the water. About twen ty-tive men and ten teams with scrBpers are now Bt work completIrg the excavations at the head.
 About three and one-hslf miles from the head Mir, Aaron Mason IS complet- ing his contract of l200 feet Of rock work. He has about 30 men and many teams at work and will finish his contract by the middle of June. By that time Westfsifs camp will be in front of Florence and the canal will be practically finished to thIs point Mir. Colton says he will have the water running to Florence by July lzt at the outside.
 From this place, bearing in genera! southwesterly direction, the canal will he constructed towards Casa GraDde, and NIT. Thomas thinks that October lst will witness the cOml ieton of the fifty miles designed to be the length of the main canal. Lateral ditches will be con structed thereafter until all the land possible IS reached by the water and made tillable. The width of the main canal on the bottom IS twenty-five feet, vlth sides sloping at an angle that will give au average width of thirty-siI feet. IT. IS designed to carry 0 volume of wa fer about four feet deep.
 Nearly ail the land along the main canal. 60 far as its route is surveyed, has been taken up by intending settlers, mostly under the desert act. As the